Monday, November 28, 2016

Franklin Library: Holiday Party - Dec 2

The Franklin Public Library will host a holiday party on Friday, Dec from 2:00  to 4:00 PM. Games, goodies, crafts, and a drawing for a "Bundle of Books".

Franklin Library: Holiday Party - Dec 2
Franklin Library: Holiday Party - Dec 2

This was shared from the Franklin Library webpage
http://franklinpl.blogspot.com/2016/11/holiday-party-friday-december-2-200-400.html

In the News: Holiday Stroll set for Thursday; Food Elves kick off new drive

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

"With Thanksgiving over, the Franklin Downtown Partnership is preparing to kick off the holiday season with its much-anticipated Holiday Stroll next week. 
The event, set for Thursday, Dec. 1, 4:15-7 p.m., will include a tree lighting, carols and other holiday festivities. 
The first celebration of the season will take place in the town's newly upgraded downtown business district, with Main Street closed to traffic for the duration to give revelers a chance for a leisurely stroll among the attractions on Main, West Central, East Central and Summer streets."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20161127/franklin-downtown-partnership-planning-holiday-stroll/1

new seasonal banners up on the street lights in downtown Franklin
new seasonal banners up on the street lights in downtown Franklin


"After their "12 Days of Donating" drive last year garnered more than four tons of food, the Franklin "Food Elves" are gearing up for another run this December. 
Though the group hopes to once again near or beat that total, it's monetary donations that will be the focus of this year's effort. 
The drive, now in its 11th year, is run by local students - the "Food Elves" - to benefit the Franklin Food Pantry."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20161127/franklin-12-days-of-donating-drive-to-start-dec-1

Sunday, November 27, 2016

Economic Development Committee to take up plastic bag bylaw and recreational marijuana zoning

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

"The town will again be taking up the matter of a ban on plastic shopping bags later this month. 
Town Council member Andrew Bissanti has announced that the economic development subcommittee, of which he is chairman, has scheduled a meeting for Wednesday, Nov. 30 to resume discussion on the matter. 
The meeting - set to take place at 5:30 p.m. in the council chambers of the town's municipal building - will consider the ban and feedback from local merchants."
Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20161125/franklin-bag-ban-meeting-scheduled

cover page of presentation to Town Council on reducing plastic bags for retail
cover page of presentation to Town Council on reducing plastic bags for retail


  • The presentation made to the Town Council

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1TvMM2CLtm0PkZU3FZYXYtb1m6LtD2kPkgFc5EZ9phcs/edit?usp=sharing


  • The proposed bylaw text

http://www.franklinmatters.org/2016/10/proposal-to-ban-plastic-bags-for-retail.html


  • Recap of efforts in MA to reduce use of plastic bags for retail

http://www.franklinmatters.org/2016/10/we-dont-need-to-put-each-piece-of.html


The EDC meeting agenda

1. Plastic Bag Ban Legislation 
2. Recreational Marijuana Zoning 

A full copy of the agenda can be found here
http://www.franklinma.gov/sites/franklinma/files/news/edc_agenda_november_30_2016.pdf

“12 Days of Donating” campaign to benefit the Franklin Food Pantry

The Franklin Food Elves and the Downtown Partnership will launch the “12 Days of Donating” campaign to benefit the Franklin Food Pantry on December 1. This year’s collection drive marks 11 years that the Food Elves have helped neighbors in need during the holiday season.

The Food Elves were created in 2006 when Melissa and Cameron Piana began collecting donations in a wagon in their neighborhood. This tradition continues with Ellie Teixeira as lead Food Elf who took over this legacy last year from Cameron. More than 120 school-aged elves and 12 local businesses raised more than four tons (8,001 pounds) of goods and $11,000 for the Food Pantry. This year the Elves are asking for more monetary gifts because it gives the Pantry greater flexibility to meet community need.

“We are looking forward to building on the success the Food Elves have had, and this year we hope to raise more money. The Food Pantry can buy food at a much lower price than others can. And, they can buy exactly what they need for their clients,” says Ellie Teixeira, lead Food Elf.


left to right, are Erin Lynch, Pantry executive director, and Lead Food Elves Ellie Teixeira and Julia Buccella. Photo courtesy of Bob Teixeira
left to right, are Erin Lynch, Food Pantry executive director, and Lead Food Elves Ellie Teixeira
and Julia Buccella. (Photo courtesy of Bob Teixeira)

The Franklin Food Elves is a charitable community service group comprised of more than 120 dedicated elementary, middle and high school students. This will be the sixth year the elves have partnered with local businesses to create one of the Franklin Food Pantry’s most successful collection drives. Each year the 12 Days campaign brings in food and cash to help sustain the pantry’s 504 client families through the winter.

In December the Food Elves will notify their neighbors about collection dates, instructions and items needed. The elves make it easy to donate; residents simply place bags of goods at their mailboxes on designated dates, and the elves pick up and deliver the goods to the Pantry. If residents prefer to make a monetary donation, Food Elves captains will also give instructions on how funds will be handled in their neighborhood.

“The Pantry has some lean months after the holidays, when end-of-year giving subsides and food drives happen less frequently,” says Erin Lynch, executive director of the Franklin Food Pantry.

“We count on the Food Elves to bring in the donations that help carry us through the winter months, a time when families who are struggling to put food on their tables face even harder times because of higher energy costs. We are so grateful for the hard work of the Food Elves and the gifts they bring to us,” she adds.

Lynch is hoping that more people give monetary donations. “We can purchase food from the Greater Boston Food Bank at a fraction of what it costs in the grocery store. We are able to supplement food donations with more nutritious and fresh food, such as fruits, vegetables, dairy products and meats.”

In case there’s no Food Elf in your neighborhood, it is still easy and convenient to donate. Participating Franklin Downtown Partnership member businesses all across town will have red collection bins at their locations. If the Food Elves meet their goal of collecting more than 1,200 pounds of goods, each business has pledged to donate at least $200 to the 12 Days of Donating drive. A list of businesses hosting red bins will be posted on the Food Elves Facebook page and the FDP website and Facebook page.

A red collection bin will also be set up at the Holiday Stroll tree lighting ceremony at Dean College on Thursday, December 1, at 4 p.m. Event goers can drop off donations there, or at the Food Pantry, 43 W. Central St. Please designate donations made at the Pantry as Food Elves.

The Food Pantry’s greatest needs currently are personal care items such as deodorant, shampoo, liquid hand soap, toilet paper and feminine products. To make an online donation in honor of the Food Elves, visit the Pantry’s website, franklinfoodpantry.org. Please mention Food Elves in the donation form’s acknowledgement box. For more information call 508-528-3115.

Any student interested in becoming a Food Elf should contact Ellie Teixeira at franklinfoodelves@yahoo.com.

To learn more about the Franklin Food Elves and the “12 Days of Donating” campaign, please contact the Food Elves at franklinfoodelves@yahoo.com or visit their Facebook page. Information can also be found at franklindowntownpartnership.org and on the FDP’s Facebook page.

Franklin Newcomers and Friends: Annual Yankee Swap Party - Dec 14

The Franklin Newcomers and Friends Club welcomes you to our next monthly meeting. On Wednesday, December 14th we are having our Annual Yankee Swap Party. Even if this is your first time joining us, you're welcome to participate, or just come and socialize. If you choose to participate in the swap, bring a new and wrapped gift valued between $15 and $20.

Additionally, we have an optional cookie swap at this event and we collect donations for the Santa Foundation. If you want more information about participating, go to www.meetup.com/Franklin-Newcomers-Friends/ and use the link on the left hand side of the page to contact us.

We invite any resident of Franklin, or a surrounding town that doesn't have a Newcomers Club, to join us at "3" Restaurant, 461 West Central Street, Franklin. Complimentary appetizers and beverages are provided and a cash bar is available. We meet upstairs at 7:30 pm on the 2nd Wednesday of the month. We run September through May but hold many other casual events to stay connected throughout the year.

Franklin Newcomers and Friends Club
Franklin Newcomers and Friends Club

MassBudget: The Effectiveness and Cost of Expanding Vocational Education



MassBudget  Information.
  Participation.
 Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center  Democracy.


Report Explores the Effectiveness and Costs of Expanding Access to Vocational Education in Massachusetts 

With demand increasing at many vocational programs, MassBudget's new report, Skills for Our Future: Vocational Education in Massachusetts examines the effectiveness of different models of high school vocational programs and the costs of providing access for students currently on waiting lists.

Massachusetts has seen an increase in career, vocational, and technical education program enrollment since 2005, from 14 percent of the student population to 17 percent today. Research has shown that participants in certain programs had 11 percent higher annual earnings on average than comparable students after they participated in this training.

The report outlines three models currently in place -- vocational programs within traditional high schools, regional vocational schools, and in-district vocational schools -- and studies showing the elements necessary for success with each model.

There are currently 3,200 students on waitlists for vocational education programs and unmet demand for these programs is especially pronounced in the state's Gateway Cities.

Skills for Our Future: Vocational Education in Massachusetts

To fulfill the unmet demand for vocational programs across the state, MassBudget estimates a cost of at least $27 million annually, approximately $5,000 per pupil in ongoing operating costs. This figure does not include capital costs for building new schools or the significant transition costs that are often involved as students move between programs. New programs in fields such as manufacturing, moreover, require significant updating of facilities to be successful.
The link to the new report is here (LINK). 

The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) produces policy research, analysis, and data-driven recommendations focused on improving the lives of low- and middle-income children and adults, strengthening our state's economy, and enhancing the quality of life in Massachusetts.

MASSACHUSETTS BUDGET AND POLICY CENTER

15 COURT SQUARE, SUITE 700
BOSTON, MA 02108
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Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, 15 Court Square, Suite 700, Boston, MA 02108

Sent by nberger@massbudget.org in collaboration with
Constant Contact

Saturday, November 26, 2016

Shop Small Business Saturday - Nov 26

American Express has been bringing attention to small business since 2010, and this Saturday is a good reason to get out and support the many small businesses here in Franklin.

Shop Small Business Saturday - Nov 26
Shop Small Business Saturday - Nov 26

If you need a refresher on the #shopFranklin small businesses, the listing can be found on the #shopFranklin webpage   http://www.shopfranklinma.com/members/

http://www.shopfranklinma.com/
#shopFranklin

Santa arrives on the Town Common at 4:00 PM on Sunday, Nov 27

Concerts on the Common will bring Santa to the Town Common on Sunday, Nov 27. Santa is scheduled to arrive via one of the Franklin Fire Dept trucks at 4:00 PM

Santa arrives on the Town Common at 4:00 PM on Sunday, Nov 27
Santa arrives on the Town Common at 4:00 PM on Sunday, Nov 27



Spectra Energy will be conducting a survey of the gas pipeline

http://www.spectraenergy.com/
http://www.spectraenergy.com/
Spectra Energy will be conducting a survey of the gas pipeline that runs through Franklin and neighboring communities beginning Monday, Nov 28. 

The details of the survey team are contained in the letter copied here that was provided to Franklin. The survey should be completed by Dec 15 if weather permits.





December Franklin Connection Newsletter 2016

Please note the new Issue of The Franklin Connection newsletter below;

  • December 2016 Newsletter

http://www.franklinma.gov/sites/franklinma/files/pages/dec16connection_0.pdf



Read more: http://www.franklinma.gov/node/72413

the Franklin Senior Center
the Franklin Senior Center

A Glass Slipper Christmas and Humbug! coming to stage this December

Franklin Performing Arts Company (FPAC) celebrates the holiday season with two original FPAC musicals, A Glass Slipper Christmas and Humbug! The productions are family friendly, festive, and full of fun.

With a twist on the Cinderella fairy tale classic, A Glass Slipper Christmas debuts this season at THE BLACK BOX, located at 15 West Central Street in downtown Franklin. Performances are on December 9 and 10 at 7:30 p.m., with a Sunday matinee on December 11 at 2 p.m. The production follows in the tradition of a British panto, a type of show that retells a well-known fairy tale in an exaggerated style filled with audience participation, popular music, slapstick comedy, jokes, dances, and more. Audiences are invited to cheer for the hero, boo at the villain, and sing along with some of their favorite songs. The panto also entertains with double entendre, references to modern culture, and open satire of other works.


FPAC’s original holiday musical, Humbug!, is a contemporary adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
FPAC’s original holiday musical, Humbug!, is a contemporary
adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

FPAC’s large-cast holiday musical, Humbug!, will be presented on Saturday, December 17 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, December 18 at 2 p.m. at the Franklin High School auditorium, located at 218 Oak Street. A family favorite since debuting as part of the company’s 2008 season, Humbug! is an original musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. With music hits of every genre and live accompaniment by a 10-piece band of professional musicians, Humbug! transports audiences from Dickensian England to contemporary America as the novel’s iconic characters and storyline are cleverly reimagined with modern setting and dialogue. Humbug! stars the script’s writer, Nick Paone, as Ebenezer Scrooge.

Founded in 1991, FPAC presents the holiday musicals as part of the company’s 26th season. With a focus on youth development and a commitment to live music, the nonprofit FPAC supports educational arts experiences, quality entertainment, and outstanding performance opportunities for professional artists, community performers, and students of the arts. Rockland Trust Charitable Foundation is FPAC’s 2016 Holiday Sponsor. 

For tickets and more information, visit www.THEBLACKBOXonline.com or www.FPAConline.com or call (508) 528-3370.

Friday, November 25, 2016

Upcoming Events in Franklin, MA Area: FRI 11/25/16 - THU 12/1/16

FRIDAY 11/25/16
Shiva Market Grand Opening @ 365 W. Central Street, Franklin MA
1-3pm   Make Snowmen Vase/Candleholder (grades 5 and up) @ Franklin Art Center

SATURDAY 11/26/16
Small Business Saturday - #ShopSmall #ShopLocal #shopFranklin
7:30pm   New England Ringers Concert @ Franklin Federated Church

SUNDAY 11/27/16
7:30-10:30am   Sunday Morning Breakfast returns to Franklin Rod and Gun Club - open to public
1:00pm   Robert Megerdichian talks about metal miniatures at Franklin Historical Museum
4-6pm   Santa @ The Town Common

MONDAY 11/28/16
4pm   Krafty Mondays (ages 6-12) @ Franklin Public Library

THURSDAY 12/1/16
9:30am-12:30pm   Holiday Extravaganza Fair @ Franklin YMCA
4-7pm   Holiday Extravaganza Fair @ Franklin YMCA
4-7pm   FDP Holiday Stroll @ Downtown Franklin

For all the Town of Franklin Public Meetings click HERE.

For event details click HERE.

*If you have any suggestions or events for the calendar, please email Renata@BetterLivingRE.com and shersteve@gmail.com

Circle of Friends: Ellis Paul in concert December 3, 2016



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ELLIS PAUL

in concert
with special guest

Laurie MacAllister
of Red Molly
and Michele Kelly


December 3rd, $25

Ellis Paul returns to the Circle of Friends Coffeehouse on Saturday, December 3rd.  Ellis is one of the most significant stars in the modern history of folk music. He is a critically-acclaimed singer, songwriter, poet, and troubadour originally hailing from a potato farming family in northern Maine. He is the recipient of fifteen Boston Music Awards, second only to multi-platinum act, Aerosmith. Over the course of twenty years, Ellis Paul has built a vast catalog of music which weds striking poetic imagery and philosophical introspection with hook-laden melodies. He has bridged the gulf between the modern folk sound and the populist traditions of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger more successfully than perhaps any of his songwriting peers. www.ellispaul.com
His music has been shared with a wider audience as well, through commercials, documentaries, TV shows and in the soundtracks of several blockbuster films, among them three by the Farrelly Brothers -- "Hall Pass" (starring Owen Wilson and Alyssa Milano), "Me, Myself, & Irene" (starring Jim Carrey) and "Shallow Hal" (starring Jack Black and Gwyneth Paltrow). Peter Farrelly summed up the sentiments of all those who have come to know and appreciate Paul's music by referring to him as "a national treasure."

"Ellis Paul is a master storyteller. He combines the sensibilities of Bob Dylan and Bill Morrissey and delivers it with a passion that sets him apart in the company of a new breed of songwriters."
- Performing Songwriter Magazine

"Despite his success and sense of history, Mr. Paul remains an artist with his eye on the future and an interest in discovering the transformative potential in his music." - The New York Times
Ellis will be joined at this very special show by Laurie MacAllister of Red Molly. Her voice has a richness, range and pureness that sets her apart from her contemporaries.
http://www.redmolly.com/

Local favorite Michele Kelly of Dear Prudence will open the show.
The Circle of Friends Coffeehouse is a non-profit organization affiliated with Franklin's First Universalist Society. Concerts are presented in a smoke free and alcohol free environment at the Society's handicapped accessible Meetinghouse, 262 Chestnut St. in Franklin, and begin at 8:00 PM; doors open at 7:30 PM. Beverages and gourmet desserts will be available. Admission is $25. Please call (508)528-2541 or visit http://www.circlefolk.org/ to purchase tickets or for more information. 
Upcoming Shows
Dec 10      A Celtic Christmas with Robbie O'Connell and Rose Clancy
Jan 7        Christine Lavin and Don White
Jan 28      Peter Mulvey


Circle of Friends Coffeehouse · First Universalist Society · 262 Chestnut St · Franklin, MA 02038 · USA

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KP tops FHS on Thanksgiving

Hockomock Sports published the Thanksgiving football results. from around the Hockomock League allowing us to share the FHS results.


King Philip, 43 @ Franklin, 7 – Final
1st Quarter: (KP) Shane Frommer 51 yard rush, XP good. 
2nd Quarter: (KP) Brendan Lydon 26 yard pass to S. Frommer, XP good; (KP) B. Lydon 13 yard pass to Alex Olsen, XP no good; (KP) A. Olsen 1 yard rush, XP good; (F) Jake Noviello 12 yard pass to Connor Peterson, XP good. 
3rd Quarter: (KP) Giovanni Fernandez 5 yard rush, 2pt good. 
4th Quarter: (KP) Aidan Bender 60 yard interception return, 2pt good.

FHS Panthers
FHS Panthers

For all the results on Thanksgivng
https://hockomocksports.com/thursdays-schedule-scoreboard-112416/

Rotaract Club established at Dean College

Franklin Rotary Club has chartered a Rotaract Club at Dean College. The 19 charter members, all Dean students, attended last Thursday's Rotary Club meeting where they were formally inducted into Rotaract by Rotary District Governor Steve Sager from the Westboro Rotary Club, Franklin Rotary President Theodore Katsaros, and Carlos Aguilera, Franklin Rotarian and the Rotaract Club Advisor. 

It is very difficult to establish a Rotaract Club, due to the need for several factors to come together at the same time. The students already have a list of projects they intend to do to help out in the Franklin community. 

Rotaract Club established at Dean College
Rotaract Club established at Dean College

Photo was taken during the induction of individual members by Mr Sager.

In the News: The Nutcracker, New England Ringers

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

"The Franklin Performing Arts Company will present “The Nutcracker” at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 3 and 2 p.m. Dec. 4 in the Franklin High School auditorium, 218 Oak St. 
The show will include a 27-piece orchestra and more than 100 area dancers. 
The production will feature a professional orchestra under the direction of Peter Cokkinias, who celebrates his 13th year as music director/conductor of FPAC’s Nutcracker orchestra. Guest artists Vilia Putrius and Mindaugas Bauzys, company dancers with Festival Ballet Providence, will perform the roles of the sugar plum fairy and her cavalier. Rosario Guillen, a student of the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, will dance the part of the nutcracker/prince, with Aaron Andrade, of Lincoln, Rhode Island, playing the role of Dr. Drosselmeyer. A choir will sing the ethereal choral parts that accompany the enchanting Snow Scene that closes the ballet’s first act."
Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20161124/franklin-performing-arts-company-to-present-the-nutcracker



"1. Franklin Federated Church will host its annual Christmas concert Saturday.
2. After a two-year hiatus, this year's concert will feature the New England Ringers performing an arrangement of winter and Christmas melodies.
3. New England Ringers is a 15-member community handbell ensemble of musicians playing the most-advanced level of handbell literature.
4. New England Ringers performances are a blend of musical moods and styles. Their repertoire includes classical transcriptions, familiar favorites and original compositions."
Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20161123/franklin-church-to-host-new-england-ringers

Library open for normal business Fri, Sat, and Sun

After closing for Thanksgiving, the Franklin Public Library will be open for normal hours Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Fri - Sat: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
Sun: 1:30 pm to 5:00 pm

Franklin Public Library
Franklin Public Library

library book shelving in the temporary location at 25 Kenwood Circle
library book shelving in the temporary location at 25 Kenwood Circle

This was shared from the Franklin Library webpage
http://franklinpl.blogspot.com/2016/11/thanksgiving-week-hours.html

Thursday, November 24, 2016

Franklin Interfaith Council - Thanksgiving Service - Message

My wife and I were joined by about 200 hundred folks who gathered at the First Universalist Society where the Temple Etz Chaim hosted the Interfaith Council Thanksgiving Service on Sunday, November 20. The Interfaith Council Choir led the gathering in song.

The Rev. Deborah M. Woodward, Interim Priest at St John's Episcopal Church was honored to deliver the Thanksgiving message. I approached her afterward to see if she would share her talk with us and she gladly did so.

I do not normally do something like this but these are not normal times. You can read, share, and discuss Rev Woodward's message.

To you and your family, may your Thanksgiving be a good one!

----             ----            ----



The Title of this Message is “Modim Anachnu Lach” - (which from the Hebrew means, “We Thank You.”)

Modim Anachnu Lach”  from Hebrew means, “We Thank You.”
Modim Anachnu Lach”  from Hebrew means, “We Thank You.”

"As I begin, First, I wish you to know that I was deeply touched when I was invited, “thank you”, to offer this message.

I mean “touched” as in TOUCHED in bold capital letters, by the honor of being considered, as I am “the new kid on the block.”
And I also wondered a bit, because, this is not something I have ever done before, spoken at an interfaith gathering. Amazing, after 30 years in the job!

So, I am thankful and grateful for this opportunity, and I pray that I might do a worthy job.

As I prayed and named for myself this deep sense that “this is no ordinary opportunity,” I began to ponder,

• Why does it seem so very important?
• Why does this night seem different from other nights?

• I pause.
• I pray.
• I wait.

And then the blessed penny dropped… Ah the Spirit…

I thought...

Given the divisiveness and incivility of our recent public discourse -

Is it not a remarkable grace that we are gathered here?
Especially now!
This is a gathering that might not always be possible, allowed, safe, or surrendered unto,
in a world so often broken and divided?

Our shared communion here;
That that we choose to gather here;
That we congregate, way beyond mere civility;

That we gather in shared thankfulness,

• In song and psalm
• In wisdom and prayer
• That we gather across separateness and in communion
• That we are free to do so

This is actually a reality of Grace beyond thanksgiving. It is a wonder.

Look about this worship space. See each other.

I recall a dated aphorism…
“The medium is the message.”
This is important.

Modim, anachu lach.

For this moment in time we should indeed be awesomely grateful, and this truth calls me to consider that, tonight, perhaps, we should be seeking a deeper gratitude.

Touched as I was…

I needed to consider how, for me, for us, tonight's thankfulness might have its own unique particularity...

Perhaps a more pointed, additional thankfulness?
Is there something here, to be said, that is unique to the times?
I mean, in 2016 in Franklin, perhaps, something else that needs to be considered?

I recall our responsive reading...

Indeed we are thankful for...

Galaxies, humanity, freedom, ….

Here, I have a confession to make. I had considered that we might offer thanksgiving for Brussels sprouts on Thursday's thanksgiving table, but it occurred to me that Brussels sprouts might not be something for which we are all universally thankful.

We are thankful for...
Galaxies, humanity, freedom, ….

Food, nourishment...

Family, children, grandchildren...

For the tenacity of the human soul to strive to the limit for what is right,

For those who have sacrificed and those who have saved us into liberty.

Yet I find in our responsive reading, as I wondered, some words that do make this night different from others. I was touched by this particular thanksgiving.

“The Right to Choose.”

And this line guides me on.

• We have said that we are grateful for the right to choose.
• We have chosen to be here.
• We have self-selected.
• And therefore, we are called to take that right to choose with transcendent seriousness.
• We are thankful for the right and the freedom to choose how to behave.
• How to be godly and righteous.
• Modim Anachnu lach.

Here is my particular closing thought, for us in the here and now…

We are called to be grateful for the right
Indeed the obligation...
To choose, when we leave here, to offer ourselves back to this world in thanksgiving.

You see, I believe that all of us here are “touched people.”
I don't think we are accidentally present here across our differences.
We are blessed, touched, called to be here, to claim thanksgiving for our common blessedness, and to leave as agents of that thanksgiving across all that divides.

• Perhaps tonight we might to attend to that particular gratitude.
• The right to choose, to choose to be people of civility.
• And far more, to be people whose lives are grounded, beyond civility,
• grounded in thanksgiving,
• sustained in faithfulness,
• and united in a common intention, not only to be thankful, but to do thankful.

I believe that being here calls us to action.
I believe we are all here because, in the mysterious ways that wonder works we are all “touched” people.

I remember the demeaning use of that word from my youth. Someone who was “touched” was a little bit crazy. Well that's okay. Maybe we, the gratefully blessed, need to be willing to look foolish for that which is right!

I believe we evidence, by our very presence here, a particular calling, a responsibility to be thankful for our commissioning as those who demand that the world be a place of thanksgiving for all.

Let us be touched by this sacred responsibility to leave here to do thankfulness.

Let us leave here consciously, intentionally thankful, not just for material well being, not just for the spiritual grace, and the wisdom blessing our lives, but for the tasks of our lives, and I believe that task is to redeem the world to a place of thankfulness for all.

Thus we concluded our responsive reading with these words…"

“We pray that we may live not by our fears but by our hopes, not by our words but by our deeds.”


  • Rev. Deborah M. Woodward, Interim Priest at St John's Episcopal Church


The cover of the program for the serivce
The cover of the program for the service

The full program for the service can be found here in individual files


  • Page 1

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0wjbnXDBhczbEo1bFhnN2Q2ZDQ/view?usp=sharing


  • Page 2

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0wjbnXDBhczY2ZNdmZlLTVONnM/view?usp=sharing


  • Page 3

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0wjbnXDBhczN053Ylp2THZJT3c/view?usp=sharing


  • Page 4

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0wjbnXDBhczUDNfdjZ0MllmQ2M/view?usp=sharing